Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I move amendment No. 17a:

In page 7, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following subsection:

"(6) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, payments which are not reckonable for pension purposes are not to be liable for pension levy deductions under this section.".

So many amendments have been ruled out of order, I am surprised this was accepted when resubmitted. Rather surprisingly some amendments submitted by the Opposition were allowed while others were ruled out of order for reasons about which we are in discussion with the Ceann Comhairle and the Bills Office. It may be that we have been allowed to resubmit this amendment. The purpose of this amendment is to provide that the levy does not apply to public sector income which is not reckonable for pension purposes, such as overtime and other such payments.

I have also pointed out the anomaly where members of An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces have a shorter period for entitlement to pensionable service because of the nature of the employment. They often retire earlier than most on a full pension. As the Minister is aware, many members of An Garda Síochána and Defence Forces carry out dangerous duties. This entitlement was a social provision in recognition of the dangers faced in these occupations.

If people have income that is not reckonable for pension purposes and the measure before us refers to a pension levy, why should they be obliged to pay a proportion of that income in the form of a levy? This goes back to the earlier argument that, in effect, this is a special tax on public service employees. The levy will be particularly onerous on those who are paid overtime, bonuses or other allowances which are not reckonable for pension purposes. Whatever about income on which people will be ultimately paid a pension or part of a pension, it is simply not fair to impose the levy on all of their income. The purpose of the amendment is to address that anomaly.

I and others informed the Minister earlier that this country is facing into a spring and summer of industrial discontent. We do not want a situation to arise that would be similar to that which obtains in France, where people take strike action every second week in respect of public services. Enough damage has been done already to Ireland's reputation as a result of what happened with the banks and what the Financial Times referred to as "cosy Irish capitalism".

If Ireland's name is going to be up in lights in respect of continuous waves of public sector strikes, this will not help in the context of rebuilding our image, credibility and, above all else, our capacity to borrow cheaply on international markets. In this year alone, the cost of the interest payments on the public sector borrowing will increase by approximately €2 billion. While some of this increase relates to higher borrowings, the vast bulk of it is due to the fact that we are now paying interest rates way above those which apply in respect of Germany. If the Minister persists with a strategy which ensures that the country's name will be up in lights for 30 seconds, 60 seconds or two minutes on the Bloomberg channel or some other business channel as a result of strikes taking place here, the cost of borrowing will continue to increase.

We again ask the Minister to consider adopting a strategy that is fair, that will lead to people in different parts of the public sector being treated equitably and under which the greatest burden will be borne by those with the largest earnings. In his interview on RTE radio this morning, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, David Begg, made it clear that the trade union movement is willing to enter into negotiations with Government in order to reach a fair settlement on this issue. We recognise that this is an emergency and that we find ourselves in difficult economic circumstances. By not applying the levy fairly, the Minister is going to cause industrial havoc. The cost of the latter will be that Ireland will be obliged to pay far more for its borrowings than the Minister will save by means of this levy, which contains a number of inappropriate and unfair elements.

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